Rides that are past their Sell-by date! :-)

Beyond - it is a structural issue. Those far turns that used to be so good at top speed were falling apart. That's what I meant by the millions in maintenance costs - it'd be like Wicked Twister last year all over again. Once the gates close, here comes the cavalry to repair the ride before its unsafe for operations the next day!

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Give me launched or give me ... uh ... more launched!!
--Brett

I have some coasters that should go:

Michigan's Adventure: Corkscrew

Six Flags Great America: Deja Vu

Six Flags Great Adventure: Chillers, GASM, Viper

Six Flags Magic Mountain: Deja Vu, X, Psyclone

Six Flags over Georgia: Deja Vu, Ninja

Six Flags St. Louis: Ninja

Cedar Point: Top Thrill Dragster

Alton Towers: Corkscrew

Six Flags Elitch Gardens: the whole park(except for Twister II)

Where should I start?

Corkscrew at MIA: It may not be the biggest or most exciting but its fun. When I went on it, it was B&M smooth.

Deja Vu: It isn't the most reliable but it is a fun ride. Also, at least at SFGAm, I don't think they would be able to fit another coaster in there.

Top Thrill Dragster: What the HELL are you thinking. Have you even been on it. If not, then you have absolutly no right to say that. All new rides have problems there first year. Also, Top Thrill Dragster has been open every day since the 4th of July except when they had to replace a brake fin.
*** This post was edited by SFGAm Shock Wave 8/4/2003 3:30:11 PM ***

Thrillerman, I'm glad you agree with me on this. It's also interesting that the pitch steepens so very gradually at the top, and then flattens out so soon toward the bottom. I guess that's what you were pointing out with the radii comment. I haven't noticed other wooden coasters having this characteristic.

Shivering Timbers is a large woodie, and it seems to have first drop with a more intense profile. It's much more fun to me. Even before the trim brakes on Mean Streak's main hill I remember being disappointed in the drop.

La Vibora @ SFOT Needs TO GO IT Has Capacity issues and is not a very good ride anyway also Batman:The Esacape @ Astro world

Yeah the rollover radius on most of his rides is weak. The other big issue with his design and the MS is the fact that he bridged the bottom of the first drop overtop of another track. The coaster always jack-hammered crossing that bridge. It was never smooth there.

Also, why did it have to be trimmed for the second half? that is some of the flattest, most boring run of hills he ever designed. "Lets build track that's over 100 feet in the air and valley it 5-10 feet above the ground." He did that on most of his rides. John Miller would of failed him in coaster design 101 for that alone. It is sad though that Curtis passed away late in 1991 after he designed the ride. I don't hate the man, just his coaster designs.

I also find it interesting that Denise got into the business her father started. Her company built some of the best rides dynamically, that we've seen since the 1920's. Charlie was even working with her at the time. I remember meeting and talking with him briefly on a construction site several years ago. I don't have all the facts though, so I could be wrong on a couple of details here. But, the pieces do fit together well.

Wood - anything else is an imitation

Stealth at Paramounts Great America should definately go! Its a horrible ride that lacks speed and excitement.

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Thrillerman said:
Yeah the rollover radius on most of his rides is weak. The other big issue with his design and the MS is the fact that he bridged the bottom of the first drop overtop of another track. The coaster always jack-hammered crossing that bridge. It was never smooth there.

Also, why did it have to be trimmed for the second half? that is some of the flattest, most boring run of hills he ever designed. "Lets build track that's over 100 feet in the air and valley it 5-10 feet above the ground." He did that on most of his rides. John Miller would of failed him in coaster design 101 for that alone. It is sad though that Curtis passed away late in 1991 after he designed the ride. I don't hate the man, just his coaster designs.

I also find it interesting that Denise got into the business her father started. Her company built some of the best rides dynamically, that we've seen since the 1920's. Charlie was even working with her at the time. I remember meeting and talking with him briefly on a construction site several years ago. I don't have all the facts though, so I could be wrong on a couple of details here. But, the pieces do fit together well.

Wood - anything else is an imitation

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O lord, leave it alone already.

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"You know its a good ride when you come into the final brake run wiping tears from your eyes."

i don't like mean streak because yes, it LOOKS good, but then when riding it, the first thing you notice is the brakes decent down the firts hill, and then the rest of the ride just feels like it's in slow motion. it's like a sightseeing tour over a rollercoaster track.

For the people that don't seem to understand, Monty Jasper himself has said that the ride is at an equilibrium right now. They have to balance the amount of thrill with the amount of damage that occurs to the ride. If they let up on the trimming any more the damage to the ride would be too great.

I never got to ride it when it was new, but it sure seems like they could find some way to make the ride more exciting or less painfull.

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-Dan
If you don't like the ride, shut up and get out of line.

Pretty funny but Walt himself worked on It's a small world, so it stays. it's sad about Country Bears in Cali.

This is a little off the subject but half the coasters wouldn't be on this list if ths list if they didn't have horsecoller restraints.

pki's Vortex is awesome allready, just imagine if it sported those shell shaped lap bars.

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Visit Camden's 100th!

I would have to say the ride hercules at Dorney park. I think they should rip the thing out of the ground and have GCI come in and use the terrain and make an incredible terrain coaster utilizing the hillside and lake sort of like hercules but without theight and make the layout twist in and out of itself.

Wood Coaster Fan

Scream'n Demon, Bat, King Cobra, and galaxie have all been removed, improved, or replaced by better coasters. I think PKI is the best at keeping their coaster collection modern. I think other parks should edit their collection like PKI does. It makes you wonder when parks keep track of a rides overall attendance with turnstlyles. What do the parks do with that information. Why use polls, and turnstyles if the parks don't change the coaster line up.

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It's all about Coleman Spas

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Crashmando said:
I love MEan Streak. Its just a nice coaster to look at and its a nice long ride. it I am not hurting. When I get off Hurcules IWhen I get off am asking for the First Aid station. I mean I don't hate any coaster and I wish I could ride every single one. I wish Mean Streak would get those brakes removed at the top of the first drop. But other than that I see nothing wrong with it.

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Alpengeist,Beast,Hulk,MeanStreak,Nitro

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I already had a "nice long ride" from Baltimore to Cedar Point!! I was expecting a "great long ride"!

Seriously, demolishing it might be a bit extreme (ain't gonna happen) just take the parking brakes off!!

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"How was your ride?"

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BeyondOblivion said:

I'm not criticising 'It's a Small World' as a thrill ride, that would be daft. I like a good senic ride as much as the next person. But that ride is just torture: it's been a year since I was last dragged on it and I can still hear that blommin tune..The Horror....horror! I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears and hum a tune as loud as I could to block it out, but can anyone guess what the only tune I could think of was?? :-0 As far as I can make out, people only use that ride because of the rather good air conditioning system which provides us Brits with a respite from the hot Florida sun. However, last time I was there I saw people running out of the building shouting: "I'll sustain the 3rd degree burns...it's less horrid than that ride". :-)

All the best.
*** This post was edited by BeyondOblivion 8/4/2003 6:09:46 AM ***

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LOL!!...gotta admit you do hear that song in the back of your mind for at least a month after returning from Disney..I'm hearing it now, as a matter of fact.

Kinda reminds me of that "Halloween" movie from the early '80's where the kids wear these masks and after hearing an irritating song over and over again their head blows up!!

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"How was your ride?"

My all time least favorite ride ever has got to be Mean Streak it is the biggest waste of perfectly good lumber, they coul dhave built a ride half as tall half as long and half as fast and had a good coaster, that is the biggest flop at CP, esp since its still advetised on their web site as one of the tallest and fastest wood coasters, it has to be the lowest rated woody in the world. I can't remember a time when there was actually a line for this ride.

Along with that there are way to many to even list.

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Ride the Conneaut Lake Blue Streak!

Both the Scorpion and Python at BGT. yuk.
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If "Ifs and Buts" were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas all the time...

WoodFan said:
I would have to say the ride hercules at Dorney park. I think they should rip the thing out of the ground and have GCI come in and use the terrain and make an incredible terrain coaster utilizing the hillside and lake sort of like hercules but without theight and make the layout twist in and out of itself.

If i said it once, I said it a million times. Why would Dorney "rip out" the only record breaking coaster they've ever had?

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"You know its a good ride when you come into the final brake run wiping tears from your eyes."

Intersting responses already. "Boring" rides aren't necessarily kill-worthy in my opinion. They aren't that good to the thill seekers, but they often are quite fun. Mean Streak isn't too bad overall (though like most wooden coasters, the seat dividers really make it hard on the hips to ride). Varying degrees of "painful" should also be kept in mind. I don't enjoy stand-ups due to the fact that I seem to be just the wrong height between clicks on the restraints, and often end up on my toes, but they aren't bad rides. Magnum is also rough, but in a fun way. It's all personal perspective. I'd even argue that the unnecessarily tight restraints on the Intamin impulses are okay, though there doesn't seem to be any good reason for the unusual maximum size.

What I consider bad are rides that torture the riders.

SF GAdv is guilty on several fronts. Viper is just plain torture. The ride is short and pretty good, but those unpadded restraints punish your shoulders and women with larger breasts end up with bruises. Your shoulders should not have burn marks after only one ride on anything.

Rolling Thunder, once a favorite of mine, is sadly worthless now. The ride feels like it's falling apart, the sqealing is loud enough to give you tinnitus after a ride, and the seat dividers are too thick and don't quite fit many people.

GASM has become quite rough and the OTSRs bump into your chin lately. Maybe maintenance needs to check the wheels better, but it shouldn't be that rough.

I should note that unless you've ridden the Chiller with the new lapbars, you haven't ridden it the way it should be. It's actually a good ride again (despite the extra slow launch/load cycle).

No other coasters I've been on seem to fit in the unridable category yet, though PKI's Vortex was also aging badly when I rode it.

Disaster TRansport is still nice for a bobsled type ride, but the theming just doesn't work. The 3D gimmick stinks, and the lights weren't on the last couple of times I rode it, so it was okay in complete darkness, but nothing special.

I has always been my opinion that Disaster Transport was better as Avalanch Run. However, CP's use of Disaster Transport in the fall is excellent!